How To Cook Perfect Spuds

[Kan Win]

You might think that giving background information on how to cook potatoes is unnecessary. After all, a potato's a potato, and even the most inexperienced cook has a pretty good idea of how to prepare it.

And yet it's surprisingly easy to end up with gluey mash, limp chips or leathery roast potatoes. It turns out that the humble potato is quite a complex structure

Read more: http://www.theage.co...l#ixzz1sISuLn8Z

Have fun

Win

[smokie36]

I like my spuds mashed with olive oil and sauteed crushed garlic and chopped spring onion....lots of white pepper please.

[FOODLOVER]

Don't over mash as you will develop the gluten's but in turn will have excellent wall paper paste. Heavy cream, a large amount of butter, garlic and white truffle oil is my fave masher. Potatoes of different varieties have different amounts of gluten's as well as sugars so some are good for fries and the such but others will burn do to the sugar content before they are cooked through. Colorado russet makes a great baker.

[SantiSuk]

All pretty irrelevant to those of us in the sticks who get a choice of one - an amorphous and pretty tasteless chinese grown large new potato. Not much use for mashing and no use for chipping, roasting or baking. Same same in Tesco and Big C.

(Nice) new potatos are best steamed imo.

[cardholder]

All pretty irrelevant to those of us in the sticks who get a choice of one - an amorphous and pretty tasteless chinese grown large new potato. Not much use for mashing and no use for chipping, roasting or baking. Same same in Tesco and Big C.

(Nice) new potatos are best steamed imo.

Wrong.

We use those Chinese/Holland potatoes from makro and serve up decent mashed potatoes (with milk/butter) and reasonable roasties.

Can't make decent chips out of them though.

[smokie36]

Yeah I agree. Mash is fine in Thailand.

[Gippy]

I tried every method going to make chips from the Big C spuds but with no luck, I just buy Farm Frites from Makro now. They make decent mash though.

[tutsiwarrior]

monster mash: spuds, carrots and turnips, butter and milk and lotsa fresh ground pepper...

[noudb]

All pretty irrelevant to those of us in the sticks who get a choice of one - an amorphous and pretty tasteless chinese grown large new potato. Not much use for mashing and no use for chipping, roasting or baking. Same same in Tesco and Big C.

(Nice) new potatos are best steamed imo.

Wrong.

We use those Chinese/Holland potatoes from makro and serve up decent mashed potatoes (with milk/butter) and reasonable roasties.

Can't make decent chips out of them though.

Would be nice to know how you make them into "reasonable roasties".

[theoldgit]

I always par boil a fair bit, just long enough that they don't break up in the pan. Before cooking the outside of the spuds in fairly hot oil/fat, give them a twirl in the pan that starts to breakdown the outside of the spuds, the end result is consistently good roast potatoes.

[attrayant]

I bake mine in my tabletop halogen convection oven, and that makes good bakers. I tried mashing a few baked potatoes once using my kitchen aid stand mixer but they ended up gluey. Not sure what went wrong. I used to make mashed potatoes in the states without even thinking about it. Used Idaho russets, I did. But here it seems like I get a different result each time.

As for chips, who really makes their own potato chips? I hate deep frying and if I can avoid it, I will.

[attrayant]

Strike that last remark; I just realized that you're talking about fries, not potato chips as Americans use the term.

[tutsiwarrior]

Strike that last remark; I just realized that you're talking about fries, not potato chips as Americans use the term.

no, incorrect...in England peeled, sliced and deep fried potatoes are called chips as in 'chipped potatoes'...and here's tutsi looking at the menu in the canteen at work in the east midlands of England and 'chipped potatoes with curry sauce' were on offer...and I said: 'that sounds interesting, I better have some of those...'

[Thaddeus]

All pretty irrelevant to those of us in the sticks who get a choice of one - an amorphous and pretty tasteless chinese grown large new potato. Not much use for mashing and no use for chipping, roasting or baking. Same same in Tesco and Big C.

(Nice) new potatos are best steamed imo.

Wrong.

We use those Chinese/Holland potatoes from makro and serve up decent mashed potatoes (with milk/butter) and reasonable roasties.

Can't make decent chips out of them though.

Would be nice to know how you make them into "reasonable roasties".

It is fairly simple, learned this from me mum.

It's a two step process, boiling, then roasting. The amount of boiling time depends on the type of spud and piece size, as a general rule of thumb, the lighter the skin, the longer to boil.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into roastie sized chunks, boil for between 12 to 15 minutes, make sure you put some salt in the water first, and then drain them through a sieve, shake them about a bit to get some fluffyness going on.

While they are boiling, pre-heat some lard or butter at a pinch (goose grease is best, but hey) in a roasting dish in the oven, transfer the already boiled and fluffed spuds there, make sure that they are well coated by either faffing about turning them with a pair of tongues or just use a painters brush (you do not need to clean the brush, it hasn't killed me yet)

Turn them once after about 10 minutes, wait another ten minutes, dish up, sit back, smile and look smug.

It's really very easy.

[smokie36]

Duck fat over goose grease and an extra ten minutes at least. I like mine crispy!

Edit: You're so right about fluffing 'em up....this is crucial to get proper crispy edges...

[tutsiwarrior]

I just useta get the 'non floury' spuds and they would do the trick with either a pork roast or chicken...I'll haveta try some of the recommendations on here the next time...what about the brussels sprouts with the roast? the best that I've ever had...the ex-wife would observe with a fag and a cup of tea and remark: 'don't think that you shall turn English by adopting the cuisine...but I haveta admit that your roast dinners are very good...'

and on a cooking show in the US a UK chef recommended 'swishing about' a mixture as part of a procedure and that made the news...muscular US chefs weighed in to declare that no one 'swishes' in their kitchen...

[smokie36]

Sprouts should be dropped into boiling water for five to six minutes max and come out a lovely colour and still a tad crunchy.

If you over do 'em they are in Monday's bubble and squeak.

[cooked]

try making chips with sweet potatoes - not much difference.

[tutsiwarrior]

Sprouts should be dropped into boiling water for five to six minutes max and come out a lovely colour and still a tad crunchy.

If you over do 'em they are in Monday's bubble and squeak.

yer right...sprouts are easy to overcook but they usually turn out OK when in the pan with the roast...

and manys the time that I took out the Sunday lunch leftovers and then bashed them about with a cleaver and then threw them in the frying pan...add the scrambled egg mixture then 'swish about' and then 'bob's yer uncle'...would be perfect with fresh corn tortillas and hot (spicy) salsa but civilization has yet to reach that stage in the UK...

[cardholder]

All pretty irrelevant to those of us in the sticks who get a choice of one - an amorphous and pretty tasteless chinese grown large new potato. Not much use for mashing and no use for chipping, roasting or baking. Same same in Tesco and Big C.

(Nice) new potatos are best steamed imo.

Wrong.

We use those Chinese/Holland potatoes from makro and serve up decent mashed potatoes (with milk/butter) and reasonable roasties.

Can't make decent chips out of them though.

Would be nice to know how you make them into "reasonable roasties".

It is fairly simple, learned this from me mum.

It's a two step process, boiling, then roasting. The amount of boiling time depends on the type of spud and piece size, as a general rule of thumb, the lighter the skin, the longer to boil.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into roastie sized chunks, boil for between 12 to 15 minutes, make sure you put some salt in the water first, and then drain them through a sieve, shake them about a bit to get some fluffyness going on.

While they are boiling, pre-heat some lard or butter at a pinch (goose grease is best, but hey) in a roasting dish in the oven, transfer the already boiled and fluffed spuds there, make sure that they are well coated by either faffing about turning them with a pair of tongues or just use a painters brush (you do not need to clean the brush, it hasn't killed me yet)

Turn them once after about 10 minutes, wait another ten minutes, dish up, sit back, smile and look smug.

It's really very easy.

A couple of bits of additional advice:-

1. try the Jamie Oliver trick of dragging a fork over the spuds after the par-boil stage.

2. Quite important this - try to resist trying the crispy little wonders until they have cooled sufficiently so as not to leave abscesses in the roof of your mouth.

[rixalex]

Anybody got any tips for baked potatoes? I like the skin to be crispy and seem to be heading for success with my tabletop halogen convection oven, but almost as soon as i take them out of the oven and plate them, the skin sags and becomes soft and chewy.

Would wrapping them in silver foil during cooking help at all?

[Thaddeus]

Anybody got any tips for baked potatoes? I like the skin to be crispy and seem to be heading for success with my tabletop halogen convection oven, but almost as soon as i take them out of the oven and plate them, the skin sags and becomes soft and chewy.

Would wrapping them in silver foil during cooking help at all?

Wrapping them in foil will make it worse I'm afraid.

[RabC]

Anybody got any tips for baked potatoes? I like the skin to be crispy and seem to be heading for success with my tabletop halogen convection oven, but almost as soon as i take them out of the oven and plate them, the skin sags and becomes soft and chewy.

Would wrapping them in silver foil during cooking help at all?

Prick them then thin film of cooking oil and salt

[rixalex]

Anybody got any tips for baked potatoes? I like the skin to be crispy and seem to be heading for success with my tabletop halogen convection oven, but almost as soon as i take them out of the oven and plate them, the skin sags and becomes soft and chewy.

Would wrapping them in silver foil during cooking help at all?

Prick them then thin film of cooking oil and salt

Been pricking and salting 'em but not oiling. Will give that a try. Cheers.

[attrayant]

Strike that last remark; I just realized that you're talking about fries, not potato chips as Americans use the term.

no, incorrect...in England peeled, sliced and deep fried potatoes are called chips...

Now I'm confused. I always heard "fish n chips" and thought those were french fries (or thicker version of FF which we call steak fries in the states).

Anyway sorry for the hijack...

[attrayant]

Anybody got any tips for baked potatoes? I like the skin to be crispy and seem to be heading for success with my tabletop halogen convection oven, but almost as soon as i take them out of the oven and plate them, the skin sags and becomes soft and chewy.

Would wrapping them in silver foil during cooking help at all?

I bake mine exactly this way, and wrapped in aluminum foil. Bakers is one of the few things that oven is good for. Everything else it seems to burn on the top and leave undercooked on the bottom.

I wrap mine in foil, then when the bakers are tender inside (toothpick test) I remove the foil, brush on some salted butter or olive oil and give them another blast (few minutes only) of radiation from the halogen lamp. Watch closely so as not to burn, and maybe turn them over to crisp evenly. If you want crispy wedges, slice them first and then brush on the butter.

Any bakers that I don't use the same day, I leave inside the foil and put them in the fridge. The next day they are perfect for skillet hash browns (or home fries/potatoes O'Brien depending on your location).

[rixalex]

I bake mine exactly this way, and wrapped in aluminum foil. Bakers is one of the few things that oven is good for. Everything else it seems to burn on the top and leave undercooked on the bottom.

I wrap mine in foil, then when the bakers are tender inside (toothpick test) I remove the foil, brush on some salted butter or olive oil and give them another blast (few minutes only) of radiation from the halogen lamp. Watch closely so as not to burn, and maybe turn them over to crisp evenly. If you want crispy wedges, slice them first and then brush on the butter.

Any bakers that I don't use the same day, I leave inside the foil and put them in the fridge. The next day they are perfect for skillet hash browns (or home fries/potatoes O'Brien depending on your location).

Many thanks for the tips. And i like your "bakers" terminology.

One thing i did experience recently, regarding cooking in the halogen oven, was that placing the baker dead centre on the baking tray, under the heat source, led to it becoming scorched quite quickly and inedible. Initially i thought perhaps the thermostat was on the blink, but retrying with a new baker, placed outside of dead centre, it cooked fine.

Could it be that you are placing yours too close to the centre, or that the rack is too high? Just a thought. Thanks again for the tips. Will try with the brushed on butter next time.

[Naam]

a most fascinating, intriguing and informative thread. i'm in a hurry and will later submit my various preferences of "taters".

[cooked]

yes, English 'chips' are thicker than American French fries. Definitely better when cooked in lard, but these days you must do that at home.

[rixalex]

a most fascinating, intriguing and informative thread. i'm in a hurry and will later submit my various preferences of "taters".

I'm sure we will all be waiting in suspenders...